r
10B Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Bulletin, Progressive, Record, Reporter
D I T O RIAL A.ND
OPINION
Is
EDITORIAL
massive
It's just a frog.
That's a pretty blunt, and probably insensitive,
statement in the eco-conscious world we live in
these days. But it's the simple truth.
Way too much time, energy and tax dollars are
being dedicated toward making sure the
yellow-legged frog has a comfortable place to live --
safe from predators and man-made threats that
could potentially mean doomsday for the 2-inch
amphibian.
There is no doubt that times are tough for the few
little yellow-legged hoppers that remain. The million
or so acres in California that are considered the
frog's critical habitat are indeed shrinking. Some of
the best and brightest minds have been dedicated to
making sure the frog doesn't join the woolly
mammoth and passenger pigeon in the "extinct"
wing of the museum.
Millions of dollars and hours have been dedicated
to studies and plans to save the frog. Biologists are
examining the problem from every angle.
But there is one simple question that should have
been asked a decade ago: fftlre yellow-legged frog
disappears, would anyone notice? Seriously.
Extinction is a part of evolution. Millions of
species that once inhabited our planet are gone.
They were replaced with species more suited to the
environment. It's called survival of the fittest. The
strong adapt and survive. The weak? Well, you get
the picture.
The species at the top of the food chain (that would
be us) has been disrupting the natural order of
things since we realized we could. We've moved
other species around to suit our liking.
Hundreds of mammals, birds, reptiles,
amphibians, fish, crustaceans, insects and plants
didn't exist in the Americas until our European,
Asian and African ancestors brought them here (see
horse, rabbit, chicken, rat and domestic cat to name
just a few).
As a result, other local life forms were forced to
evolve, adapt or die.
So why have we decided to draw a line in the sand
to save the spotted owl and the yellow-legged flog?.
What makes them any different than the passenger
pigeon?
The impact of protecting the owl meant the
decimation of the once-thriving timber industry in
the West. The full impact of keeping the frogs alive
is yet to be known. But it's already being felt locally.
The first local victims are the brook trout in a
sroaU plu~a3~Jil~t~ l'al~e R~id people who eiij0 1:~ ~ ~
,The California Department of Fish and wildlife's
plan to remove non-native brook trout from Gold
Lake in the Bucks Lake Wilderness Area will mean
the end of fishing in that lake. The brook trout thrive
in the lake. But they aren't considered native because
humans put them there a hundred years ago.
Granted, not too many anglers fish in Gold Lake.
It is a relatively small body of water that requires
some hiking to reach it. Regardless, the brook
trout's days in the lake are numbered -- because
they eat the yellow-legged frog.
If other local lakes are subject to the same fate, the
ripple effect could result in yet another dent in our
local economy. Imagine if the trout were removed
from the much larger, easily accessible Gold Lake in
Lakes Basin above Graeagle.
Tourism is vital to Plumas County. And many of those
visitors come here for the fishing.., not for the frogs.
The chance of the state pulling the fish out of all
our lakes is unlikely. It won't happen. But there is
always the possibility that another yellow-legged
frog will show up near a lake like Gold Lake.
If that happens, will the government issue another
eviction notice to the trout? We hope not.
Seriously, we are talking about one weak little
species of frog. Instead of removing the trout, maybe
we should just add more frogs. And then let nature
take its course.
Fea llshlng
Wspaper
For breaking news,
go to plumasnews.com
Michael C. Taborski ............. Publisher
Keri B. Taborski ...Legal Advertising Dept.
Dan McDonald ......... Managing Editor
Jenny Lee ................. Photo Editor
Ingrid Burke ................ Copy Editor
Staff writers:
Laura Beaton Debra Moore
Carolyn Carter Maddie Musante
Michael Condon M. Kate West
Makenzie Davis Aura Whittaker
Ruth Ellis Sam Williams
Will Farris James Wilson
Susan Cort Johnson Samantha P. Hawthorne
Feather River Indian Valley
Bulletin Record
(530) 283-0800 (530) 284-7800
J
Portola Reporter Chester Progressive
(530) 832-4646 (530) 258-3115
Lassen County Westwood
Times PinePress
(530) 257-5321 (530) 256-2277
Help is always on the way for those who ask
When I was a 19-year-old aspiring horse
trainer at Feather River College, I
struggled with reaching my goals of horse
training success, mainly because I was
getting bucked off so much during my two
years there I lost all familiarity with
actually being in the saddle.
Every quarter, the school hosted a
different expert horseman to come for the
weekend and teach the students.
The clinician would address the 30 wiry
horse students and try to help them fix all
of the problems they were having with
their horses.
For a few weeks after the expert came,
we would all ride around like mini
replicas of the clinician until our horses
finally protested enough to show us there
was more to it than just imitating good
training.
I can't speak for every student, but after
ending up on the ground multiple times a
week, even after an expert came and
"fixed all my problems," I started to
wonder what it was I wasn't getting.
The program was great. The teachers
MY TURN
CAROLYN SHIPP
Staff Writer
cshipp@plumasnews.com
were top notch. The horses were not fire
breathing dragons and we got the best of
the best in our clinicians.
But something just couldn't click for
me.
So, I vowed that the next clinician who
came to the school was not leaving until I
understood what it was I was missing.
The next clinician happened to be a
man named Bryan Neubert. He was a
soft-spoken cowboy who liked to tell
stories, and rode a horse like it was
This week's special days
NOT JUST 1906 -- An earthquake and fire destroys
AN ORDINARY much of San Francisco.
DAY 1924 -- Simon and Schuster publishes the
COMPILED BY lest crossword puzzle book.
KERI TABORSKI April 19
1956 -- American actress Grace Kelly
Not just an ordinary day....a sampling of marries Prince Rainier of Monaco,
weekly notable special days and facts becoming Princess Grace.
throughout the year.
April 20
Today is Easter Sunday with lots of
candy in those Easter baskets. Each year
90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are
manufactured along with 16 billion jelly
beans and 700 million marshmallow
Peeps.
April 16
1962 -- Walter Cronkite takes over as the
lead news anchor of CBS Television
Evening News.
April 17
1964-- The Ford Mustang automobile
makes its debut at the World's Fair in
New York and in Ford showrooms
nationwide with the starting price of
$2,300.
1969 -- Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of
assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.
April 21
1952 -- Secretary's Day, now known as
Administrative Professional's Day, is
first celebrated.
first Earth Day
April 22
Today is Earth Day. The
was celebrated in 1970.
April 18
Today is Good Friday.
Today is National Columnists Day,
recognizing the importance and value of
newspaper columnists. The National
Society of Newspaper Columnists was
founded in 1977.
. T0day is National JellyBean Day~ . .
~ The first jelly bean dates back to the
1860s, however the first mention of the
jelly bean in the news occurred in July
of 1905 when they were advertised in the
Chicago Daily News for nine cents per
pound.
attached to him. He made good horse
training seem real and attainable for a
wiggly thing like me.
As promised, I literally stole the man
all weekend long. I asked questions and I
had a few different horses to use for
ammo. Part of me felt bad because the
other students where not getting an
opportunity to consult with him.
However, after the clinic I felt a little
better. I felt like I had some good things to
work on, but I still didn't feel like I had
mastered my problems. I wasn't entirely
confident I was going to be able to help
my horses.
Pensive and a little bit worried, I went
up to Bryan to say thanks. Ialso
apologized to him for stealing him the
whole time.
His response rang clearer than
anything else he said to me the whole
clinic.
"That's OK," he said, "I pet the barn
cats that come up to me."
Those. simple words, which would only
come out of a cowboy's mouth, resonated
like a nun singing on a mountaintop.
I realized then that my goals had
nothing to do with getting help So I could
be a better horse trainer; it had
everything to do with flat out needing
help.
If I didn't make the effort to ask for help
then I would have lost the opportunity to
spend a weekend with Bryan Neubert. I
might have taken time away from the
other students, and maybe that was
selfish, but I think there is never
anything selfish about asking for help,
and we have no control over just how
much help we get.
Five years later, I'm sure Bryan
wouldn't know me from Adam, and that's
OK. Truthfully, it doesn't seem like that
statement should have hit me so hard.
However, the fact is that most of
everything I've done in the last five years
was possible because I asked for help.
Like a stray, mangy barn cat, I
approached people not knowing if I was
going to get a pet or not, and what is
really cool is that 99 percent of the time I
got more help than I could have ever
hoped for.
Now because other people helped me, I
want to help other people. Suddenly,
we've all turned into a hgr of barn ats
chasing our metaphorical ~E#, just
hoping to get a few pets from those who
could help us obtain our goals.
Admittedly, it sounds a little chaotic,
but if you think about it, it's pretty nice to
know that help is always on the way.
P EMEMBER WHEN family for Easter dinner at Hotel Quincy
....................................................... Dining Room.
KERI TABORSKI
Historian
75 YEARS AGO ..... 1939
Advertisement: Easter bakery specials
at Wonderland Bakery include cream
puffs at 5 cents each, potato dinner rolls 15
cents and cream pies 25 cents each.
Advertisement: Plumas Meat Market
features Easter specials including leg of
lamb for 28 cents a pound, roast beef 15
cents a pound, pork roast 15 cents a pound,
Easter ham 29 cents a pound, rolled veal
roast 20 cents a pound.
50 YEARS AGO ..... 1964
Advertisement: The perfect spot to
spend the perfect Easter-- Keddie's Back
Door Chuckwagon smorgasbord. Easter is
family time so plan to take the whole
Advertisement: Grocery store Easter
dinner items featured this week: Ham 55
cents per pound, fryer rabbits 69 cents per
pound, eggs 47 cents a dozen, leg of lamb
69 cents per pound, avocados 9 cents each,
asparagus 20 cents per pound, butter 74
cents per pound.
25 YEARS AGO ..... 1989
Advertisement: Eat out for Easter:
Timber House in Chester features an
Easter dinner including ham, vegetable,
salad, coffee and dessert for $11.50. The
Beckwith Tavern features roast leg of
lamb dinner for $10.95, Plumas Pines in
Blairsden is serving a champagne brunch
for $9.95, Cottenwood Club in Greenville
Easter Sunday special offers an open faced
prime rib sandwich for $6.95.
Advertisement: Easter grocery items
featured this week: Ham 97 cents per
pound, cream cheese 68 cents, butter $1.65
per pound, celery 69 cents a bunch, yams 3
pounds for $1.00, avocados 49 cents each,
strawberries 69 cents a basket, six inch
potted Easter Lily $5.98.
10 YEARS AGO ..... 2004
A California state inspector has closed
the grandstands and family gardens at the
Plumas County fairgrounds due to public
safety concerns and emergency funding is
being sought from the state to repair the
the areas as early as May, well before the
Plumas County Fair in August.
Note: items included in the weekly Remember
When column are taken from our bound
newspaper archives and represent writing styles
of that particular period. The spelling and
grammar are not edited, so the copy is presented
as it actually appeared in the original
newspaper.
Music education should be mandatory at schools
I've played some kind of musical becomes a diminished fifth.
instrument most of my life, so no one ~i~"' .... ~ When a third note is added -- say 1-3-5
Should be surprised I believe music ...... . -- we now have formed a chord. In this
should play a role in every student's
case a major chord. If we lower the third
education. And in that regard I'd like to ..... a half-step we have formed a minor chord.
congratulate the Susanville Symphony Many guitar players like me use a
Society's Academy of Music for providing ..... similar system to keep track of the chords
virtually free instrumental music in a song we're playing, but we use
instruction to everyone in our MY TURN Roman numerals to keep track. So the
community, but most especially the ...................................... : ........... most basic rock and roll chord
young people. SAM WILLIAMS progression is called a I-IV-V progression.
Lassen News Editor
Now to some people, the study of music swilliams@lassennews.com Those cool Nashville cats have their own
has no practical application beyond version of this numbering system that
making a joyful noise. They're completely allows a player who understands chord
and absolutely wrong, and here are some and B steps in the C major scale. There progressions to almost instantly
thoughts on why I say that. Have you ever are no sharp or flat notes between E and F transpose a song from one key to another.
considered how much math is involved in and B and C. Guitar players who hate math
working with the simple Now when a musician (or a group ofabsolutely hate this approach and refuse
Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do major scale? musicians) plays more than one note in to learn it. They say they want to play
Now the tones in the major scale can be the scale at the same time, it's called an music, not study math. Fair enough, I
numbered as Do, 1; Re, 2; Mi, 3; Fa, 4; So, interval. Play 1 and 3 together and the guess, but this system really works. And
5; La, 6; Ti, 7; and Do, 8. This numbering interval is called a third. Play 1 and 5 that comment kind of makes my point.
system continues into the next octave, so together and the interval is called a fifth. I can tell you this -- if-I were king of
the next Re would be 9. The fourth and fifth intervals have the music education world I would insist
All the steps in the major scale are their own curiosity, in that they are every student in every school learned
whole steps (made up of two half-steps) called "perfect" intervals. Take a fourth about music. Not only do the young
except the intervals between 3 and 4 and 7 interval (1 and 4) and reverse it (4 and 8, students learn something about other
and 8, which are half-steps. If you were to which is 1 an octave higher) and it disciplines, they also satisfy that elusive
look at a piano keyboard you would becomes a fifth interval, and important creative urge.
notice there is no black key between the Raise that.4th tone a half-step and the Kudos to the Symphony Society's
notes E and F and the notes B and C. interval becomes an augmented 4th and if Academy of Music. Keep up the good
That's because they are the 3 and 4 and 7 you reverse as we did above the inversion work.